Article 26 Emergency financial assistance to councils
In any case where—
an emergency or disaster occurs involving destruction of or danger to life or property, and
as a result, one or more councils incur expenditure on, or in connection with, the taking of immediate action (whether by the carrying out of works or otherwise) to safeguard life or property, or to prevent suffering or severe inconvenience, in its district or among its inhabitants,
the Department may establish a scheme under this Article for the giving of financial assistance to those councils in respect of that expenditure.
Financial assistance given pursuant to a scheme under this Article shall take the form of grants paid by the Department with the consent of the Department of Finance and Personnel and, subject to that, the terms and conditions of a scheme shall be such as the Department considers appropriate to the circumstances of the particular emergency or disaster concerned.
Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2), a scheme under this Article may—
make the payment of grants conditional upon the making of claims of a description specified in the scheme;
make provision with respect to the expenditure qualifying for grant and the rates and amounts of grants; and
make provision in certain specified circumstances for the repayment of any grant, in whole or in part.